Students Showcase Fieldwork at Missouri Folklore Society Meeting

The Missouri Folklore Society hosted its annual meeting at the Mid-Continent Public Library’s Story Center, Oct. 17-19. Three Truman students showcased original fieldwork. Zoe Aldrich, senior creative writing major, reported on “Bingo as Community and Third Place: A Study of Wednesday Night Bingo at the El Kadir Shrine Club, Kirksville.” Olivia Altomari, senior business major, presented “The Veiled Prophet: A Folklore Analysis.” Hailey Boss a senior majoring in psychology and statistics, shared “Kindergartners for World Peace: A Study of Children’s Beauty Pageants in the Midwest.” These three papers are slated to appear in a forthcoming issue of “The Missouri Folklore Society Journal.” Tyler Bichsel, an English MA/MAE candidate, read from his capstone portfolio of folklore-inspired fiction and poetry, “The Buffalo Are Gone: Bringing Oklahoma Folklore and History to the Page.”